WorkMech Wednesday: Diomede Construction/Security 'MechWelcome to this week's WorkMech Wednesday. This is a new thing I'm trying, and we'll see how it goes. Not sure I'm going to be able to get something every Wednesday, but hopefully it won't be as sporadic as, say, some of my JumpShip articles have been. For those wanting to participate, feel free to join in! The more the merrier!
Today, for our inaugural WorkMech Wednesday, we're going to talk about a bit of an odd duck, the
Diomede ConstructionMech and its SecurityMech sibling. First produced in 3084 by Curtis Hydroponics' Power Systems Division, its origins are a bit of an odd duck, which fits, since the
Diomede is a bit of an odd duck itself.
Curtis Hydroponics, or "CHydro", was originally based on the FWL world of Paradise, which briefly was part of the Duchy of Graham-Marik before, in 3081, the Regulans decided to wipe out the planet with thousands upon thousands of nukes, in an attempt to kill the Master of the Word of Blake, proving once again there's no kill like overkill.
With their primary production lines gone, CHydro shut down its Curtiss Militech division entirely, ending their production of the
Eagle,
Wrath and
Yeoman BattleMechs, focusing instead on IndustrialMech production. Reportedly, this is at the behest of Devlin Stone and the Republic of the Sphere, which makes no damn sense, given Silver is in the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey. So...maybe those restrictions are exclusive to sales within the Republic?
So, let's look at the first
Diomede to roll off the assembly lines in 3084, the D-M3D-3. Starting off, we have a 100-ton IndustrialMech that's primarily built to work at the job site. Its left arm sports a heavy-duty pile driver, while each side torso sports a searchlight along with a port/starbord sprayer fed by a two-ton bay in the center torso. In the right arm, you have a standard hand actuator with two wrist-mounted rivet guns, fed by two tons of rivets. Like many IndustrialMechs, the
Diomede has a set of tracks, in this case mounted on the 'Mech's shins. Meanwhile, each side torso rear sports a lift hoist, allowing it to haul its own mass behind it. Together, these give a clear picture of an effective ConstructionMech.
That's not all the
Diomede has going for it, though. In addition to its industrial equipment, all versions of the 'Mech sport 19 tons of Heavy Industrial Armor, equivalent in protection to the venerable AS7-D
Atlas, and requiring three gauss rifles to the CT or two to each side torso to strip the armor. Legs have max protection, and arms are each a point shy of max, with 3.5 tons of armor divided up across the rear torso, the CT rear able to take a heavy PPC with a point of armor to spare. Paired with thick armor is a dirt-common Nissan 200 standard fusion engine, giving the 'Mech 10 standard heat sinks. These come in handy when you look at another feature all
Diomede share in common: twin MML-7 launchers, one in each side torso, each fed by a ton of LRM and a ton of SRM ammo, protected by CASE, and paired with advanced fire control.
Combine, then, heavy armor, fusion engine, tracks and CASE in each side torso, and this becomes a ridiculously durable IndustrialMech. While not currently supported by MegaMek as far as I could tell in testing, even taking out the Diomede's gyro won't guarantee rendering it immobile, which helps offset its slow 2/3 speed to some degree: it may not move fast, but it's damned hard to get it to stop moving that 2/3 each turn, and with its weaponry divided up, it's going to be hard to keep it from shooting. Oh, and if you do disable it, it's got an ejector seat to try to get the pilot out of harm's way, and if you get close enough to try to take advantage of its IndustrialMech construction by engaging it in melee combat, you're still engaging a 100-ton 'Mech in melee combat. Where it can punch you, kick you, or even just hit you with its pile driver if annoyed enough.
"But Gio, isn't this a ConstructionMech?" you ask? Yes, yes it is. Mostly. Obviously, you've got a bit more going on here, and a D-M3D-3
Diomede can provide supplemental security to your job site without really impacting its performance as a ConstructionMech, thanks to its size and fusion engine. Of course, those same qualities mean CHydro has to be a little careful about who they sell it to, though they also maintain strict neutrality in terms of selling to governments of the former FWL, and it's drummed up plenty of merc command interest. The Republic, evidently, is extremely careful in vetting who they permit to buy the
Diomede.
The D-M3D-3 model isn't the only
Diomede, though. There's also the D-M3-D4, the DemolitionMech (John Spartan not included). This variant drops the pile driver and hand actuator, but picks up a spot welder in place of its hand, and a rock cutter replacing the pile driver, as well as a third sprayer in the left arm. The MMLs, torso searchlights and sprayers and arm-mounted rivet guns remain in place, as do the lift hoists, so this is a 'Mech that can bust stuff up a bit better than the stock one, but isn't as good at putting things together. Additional combat capability is...dubious at best, since the rock cutter does less damage to combat units than the pile driver does. It rips the crap out of buildings, though, which you might be able to make use of in combat, at the risk of pissing off everyone.
It didn't take long for someone at CHydro to figure out the
Diomede would make a good straight-up SecurityMech. In fact, it took eight years, with the D-M3D-M
Diomede debuting in 3092, probably causing Republic officials to become apoplectic. Making no pretense at being for industrial work, though still built as an IndustrialMech, the D-M3D-M (for "MilitiaMech"?) drops all the industrial gear, except for the tracks, and mounts the standard twin MML-7, pairing it with a gauss rifle in the left arm, twin machine guns with a ton of ammo in the right arm, and twin medium lasers, one in each side torso. The center-torso, previously home to a two-ton liquid storage cargo bay, now houses two additional single heat sinks. The bad news is you can actually overheat if you push your luck, but a gauss rifle and twin MML-7s packing LRMs isn't bad for ranged combat, and careful use of the MMLs with SRMs and the medium lasers is workable for close combat. Machine guns, of course, make infantry sad without costing any extra heat.
Not counting the 10 tons spent on the tracks, or the 0.5 ton ejector seat, the D-M3D-M
Diomede devotes 37 tons to its weaponry, ammo, heat sinks and CASE, while its motive systems use up roughly equivalent mass to a standard 300 Vlar fusion engine. This is only slightly less than an AWS-8Q, and more than your typical Succession Wars 4/6 heavy/low-mass assault 'Mech, like the Victor or BattleMaster. When combined with the choice of flexible weapons systems and extremely durable armor protection, there's no question that the D-M3D-M
Diomede is the king assault SecurityMech.
There is a key word there, though: "SecurityMech". Like all its IndustrialMech kin, the D-M3D-M
Diomede is far more vulnerable to critical hits than a true BattleMech, especially in melee combat. Also, the use of an ejector seat and the heavy weaponry and equipment precluded environmental sealing, which precludes the
Diomede, in all its flavors, from working in environments as hostile as those a BattleMech can handle including, as I recall, water. If deploying one, that's important to keep in mind.
How do you use a
Diomede? If it's the ConstructionMech or DemolitionMech, use as indicated by its name, with the 'Mech serving a secondary role as shepard of your job site, protecting against the occasional pirate or bandit. In this role, it should work quite well. For the
Diomede MilitiaMech is a straight-up fighter: slow, but durable for what it is, and relatively cheap and readily available when compared to true BattleMechs. You're slow compared to most assault 'Mechs, but you're still an assault 'Mech, with a versatile armament consisting of gauss rifle for heavy hits, LRMs for range critseeking, SRMs for peppering in close, and medium lasers and MGs for backup.
How do you defeat a
Diomede? Take advantage of its slow speed as much as possible, and pour on the firepower. One obvious answer would have been to close into melee range, since this tends to work great against other IndustrialMechs, but with the
Diomede, you're facing a 100-ton 'Mech, with its 10-point punches, 20-point kicks, and occasional improvised industrial melee weapon. Unless you've got the durability to handle this, which means probably an assault 'Mech yourself, this has a high chance of not ending well for you, and you're rolling the dice that critical hits against them will occur faster than the
Diomede is going to pummel you in return. I'm not sure that's a hill you want to die upon, so tactics similar to those you might use against an
Annihilator may serve you much better: big, beefy brawlers or artillery.
But enough about me, what are your thoughts on the
Diomede? Has it found a home in your games? Do you find its armor protection and weaponry to offset its IndustrialMech vulnerabilities? Anyone else find them to be downright hilarious to field?
(
MUL entry for the D-M3D-3)